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JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA

0 posted 2010-02-18 07:47 PM


American Revolution 2

The second American Revolution has begun with the election of Senator Scott Brown into the emptied Senate seat of Senator Edward Kennedy.

Scott is a present day Paul Revere warning us that the British are coming, except this time the warning is "the Socialist are Among us."

We the people don't approve of these Socialists among us.   We the people don't approve of our Government bailing out Greedy and Irresponsible Corporations with our tax money.  We the people don't accept Taxation without Representation.   We the people don't approve of new taxes being forced upon us, utilizing catchy phrases such as Global Warming, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and Government Mandated Health Care.

The Second American Relolution has begun...and so it is.

JamesLee
17February
2010



© Copyright 2010 JamesMichael - All Rights Reserved
Bob K
Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208

1 posted 2010-02-19 04:28 AM




     Perhaps he should have tried to run on a Republican ticket.

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
2 posted 2010-04-08 07:01 PM


Thanks for responding Bob...James
Bob K
Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208

3 posted 2010-04-10 01:46 AM



quote:

We the people don't approve of these Socialists among us.   We the people don't approve of our Government bailing out Greedy and Irresponsible Corporations with our tax money.  We the people don't accept Taxation without Representation.   We the people don't approve of new taxes being forced upon us, utilizing catchy phrases such as Global Warming, Climate Change, Carbon Taxes and Government Mandated Health Care.




No, thank you, James.

     A few small points.  

     1)     When the original bail-out was designed, President Bush refused to limit it to the greedy and irresponsible companies.  Because he didn't want to cause a panic — a position that I think may well have been reasonable on his part, much as it pains me to say so — he insisted that  whole range of bank and financial services companies take the monies.  Some of them were very solid indeed, some were shaky as a guy with with palsy, and there was no information given out about which was which.  The notion was that if everybody took the money it would provide cover for those folks who were in trouble, and would conceal how badly off the country was at the time.

     As a Democrat, I'd rather the information would have gotten out, so we would be very clear about what the Republicans had done with the economy.  As an American, I think that Bush made the correct, if also the politically advantageous call for his party.  Overall, I'm Okay with it; though it's always nicer to be able to point a finger at the other guy, politically, patriotically, the way Bush worked it was probably better for the country.  It averted a more serious crisis of confidence in the economy than the one we've already had to deal with.

     Last I saw, by the way, we've made eight and a half percent on the money we loaned out on that first series of loans, though I don't know how much of it remains to be paid back as yet.  


     2)     I'm sorry that you feel that "We the People" don't approve of the socialists among us.

     I'd feel even sorrier if I thought that you actually had some overlap with what the dictionary meant by the term, and could make a meaningful distinction between that and, say, an Eisenhower Republican.  Eisenhower grudged every cent that we spent on weapons; he felt that we were stealing from the schools and the education of our children.  He was a pretty Liberal guy in a lot of ways, and still a solid and responsible rock ribbed Republican.  These days you'd find some Hannity or Limbaugh calling him a RINO, no doubt.  The income tax rates were higher then, as well, not that I'd like to pay more now.    

     The difficulty you feel "We the people" have with socialists may be because of the various lies folks on the right seem to love to tell about socialists.  I'm probably as close to a socialist as anybody you know, though I'm not there yet.  The folks who wrote the constitution would have welcomed the input.  They might not have agreed, but any religion and any political party was welcome.  This business about not wanting socialists here would probably be pretty confusing to them, if not downright un-American.

     My "We the People," in other words, disagree strenuously with your "We the People," and we don't have the gall to pretend to be everybody.  Why you think you'd have the right to represent yourself that way is beyond me.

     3)     My "We the People" also are unhappy about taxation without representation.  That's why we make a point of being reasonably active in the political process, so that the government does include representatives that we have elected.  They may not be the people we voted for, mind you, but nobody said that the only people who could represent us were the folks that were the folks we bet on in the horse race.  The winner in the horse race is supposed to represent all of us.  That's why you can call your congressperson or Senator and register an opinion or make a request and have some reasonable expectation of a response, especially if you do so in a reasonable fashion.  There are generally people of staff to help deal with those requests attached to the offices of the Senators and Congressmen.  They will often take such requests very seriously.  They want to represent you.  
    
     Whether you like the job they do is another question.

     4)     New taxes are not forced upon us.  They are voted upon us by our own representatives, after discussion and debate, sometimes quite lengthy debate.

     You may not like them, but you were represented in the discussion.  Nobody said that your opinion would get a preferential hearing, or that your opinions mattered more than those of other people.  You may be one of those folks more comfortable in an aristocracy, provided that you are the ruler.  Here, we have gone to considerable trouble to attempt a democracy.  I am terribly sorry that you seem uncomfortable with the process.  I can tell you that there are times when I am equally uncomfortable, and that others are probably uncomfortable as well.  We can only try to make it more equitable for each other by treating each other more respectfully, difficult as we may find that from time to time.

fractal007
Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958

4 posted 2010-04-10 11:43 AM


Interesting discussion.  Quick question, while you guys are on the topic of representation.

Has the question of proportional representation ever come up at all in American politics?  Or is your electoral system prettymuch set in stone?

I know in Canada we've talked about it but it's usually been turned down.  Some argue it would cause minority governments all the time.


Bob K
Member Elite
since 2007-11-03
Posts 4208

5 posted 2010-04-10 04:04 PM



     Some municipalities have it, like Cambridge, Ma.  Sometimes called The People's Republic of Cambridge, affectionately, of course, of course.  It draws the election process out a very long time and is very expensive, and often makes the governibng process very difficult.  Check out some of the old Cambridge papers.

JamesMichael
Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336
Kapolei, Hawaii, USA
6 posted 2010-04-30 10:16 PM


Thanks for responding Bob and fracta...James
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